Notre Dame Goes Global

College Attracts International Students, Opens World to Domestic Ones

At the 2011 Notre Dame Medal Dinner, board member Sam Miller shared a little anecdote that illustrates how the College’s image has changed over the last few years. “When I told people that I was on the board at Notre Dame,” Miller said, “they would ask me, ‘How do you like that drive to Indiana?’ […] Today, nobody asks me that question anymore.”

In the past, Notre Dame College has been referred to as the best-kept secret in Cleveland. Tucked away behind Regina High School in suburban South Euclid, Ohio, the small liberal arts college did not receive much recognition outside Greater Cleveland.

The College traditionally attracted female students in the area who wanted to become teachers. But when Notre Dame went co-ed in 2001, it opened its doors not only to men but to students from all over the map. In fact, with the addition of quality educational programs and various sports, the College has become a magnet for students from all over the world. Today, it is not uncommon to walk across the campus and run into students from Germany, Turkey or Australia. Notre Dame College has become international.

What attracts many of these students is the chance to play sports in a high-level, collegiate setting while pursuing an excellent education. Notre Dame’s mission of personal, professional and global responsibility resonates with them as they prepare to enter an increasingly globalized job market. The international business major, one of the College’s newest programs, is responding to this reality by requiring students to take a foreign language, spend a semester in another country or complete an internship abroad. This past summer, the first three students fulfilled that requirement by interning in India and China.

For those students who are not international business majors but still want to experience different cultures, the College is in the process of establishing a study abroad program. Already, students have the chance to visit a different country every year with Notre Dame’s educational travel program. Over the last five years, students, faculty and alumni have visited Israel, the United Kingdom, China, Spain and Greece. This spring, they will travel to Italy.

Notre Dame students increasingly also decide to travel the world on their own, as they compete in athletic events in Mexico or embark on educational adventures in Bolivia.

On the following pages you will get a sense of the international flair that has become part of Notre Dame College, an institution that has its roots in Coesfeld, Germany, home of the congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame who founded NDC based on a global mission.